That was my first ever away game, and still my longest away journey by a comfortable margin. I am pretty sure the train there and back was a football special for Exeter City. Certainly the return journey seemed to be all City fans and the players.
The excitement of my first long train journey was tempered by the time taken. The worst bit was killing time before and after the game as there were long gaps and Workington was not the centre of civilisation, especially hanging around for the train on the evening/night after the game.
Workington were a point above us and, in effect, guaranteed promotion already but could not win the league. We just needed a draw and were quite expert at getting 0-0 draws that season. 0-0 certainly suited both sides, but it was still a relief when the game ended. Not much excitement during the game, but excitement growing as it became more likely that we would achieve the draw. Both sets of fans celebrated promotion at the end, so the atmosphere was one of mutual friendship.
My main memory of the day was the fact that mathematically the game did not guarantee us promotion. 5th placed Bradford City had an evening game at York City after our match, and if they won they would have equalled our points total. However, to overcome our better goal average (not goal difference in those days) they needed to beat York 27-0. I must be a severe pessimist because I didn’t fully celebrate until we heard that York had won 1-0.
The biggest shock was arriving at St David’s station on the Sunday and seeing the team greeted by what seemed to be a massive crowd of fans in very high spirits.
The excitement of my first long train journey was tempered by the time taken. The worst bit was killing time before and after the game as there were long gaps and Workington was not the centre of civilisation, especially hanging around for the train on the evening/night after the game.
Workington were a point above us and, in effect, guaranteed promotion already but could not win the league. We just needed a draw and were quite expert at getting 0-0 draws that season. 0-0 certainly suited both sides, but it was still a relief when the game ended. Not much excitement during the game, but excitement growing as it became more likely that we would achieve the draw. Both sets of fans celebrated promotion at the end, so the atmosphere was one of mutual friendship.
My main memory of the day was the fact that mathematically the game did not guarantee us promotion. 5th placed Bradford City had an evening game at York City after our match, and if they won they would have equalled our points total. However, to overcome our better goal average (not goal difference in those days) they needed to beat York 27-0. I must be a severe pessimist because I didn’t fully celebrate until we heard that York had won 1-0.
The biggest shock was arriving at St David’s station on the Sunday and seeing the team greeted by what seemed to be a massive crowd of fans in very high spirits.
